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Litmus test or pH strips are a waste of money. You need better accuracy than that. A ph meter will run you about $85 up. I don't know if you want to invest that much, but it's an essential item for all but kit wines. Maybe someone else on this forum will have some suggestions. Fred

Sorry, I misunderstood. TA of 6 sounds about right. The pH is actually a more important number though. Can you access a pH meter to test ph? Fred

You will die. Dump it.

dderemiah, First, regarding Kmeta, you didn't say what size carboy you have, but if it's a 6-gallon add 1/4 tsp. of Kmeta. You don't need to rack again to do this. Add it to just enough water to dissolve it (about 50 ml.) then pour it in your wine and gently stir for about a minute...

As long as you don't get the rotten egg smell, it'll be alright. However, my guess is you'll get H2S without nutrient. I think your hbs guy was mistaken. Nutrient may speed fermentation a little, but its main use is for nutrient deficient, especially nitrogen deficient, musts. In my...

Let us know if you begin to smell an odor like rotten eggs. This is common and happens when there's a nutrient deficiency. It's usually not a big problem if caught early, but can become serious if allowed to continue more than a few days. Fred

Outdoors, A floor corker is well worth the additional cost. Especially if you plan to stay with winemaking for more than a few months. The Italian model is the best quality, but lots of people use the less expensive Portugese model. Either one will make inserting corks, especially #9 corks, so...

If it were mine, I'd let it finish fermenting then add tartaric acid to get the pH down to 3.3-3.6. Fred

loumik, I didn't see any mention of your adding Sorbate. Did you? If not you could still have some fermentation going on; however, at sg .992, your wine is dry and that is probbaly not the case. Just wondering. IMO you should go ahead and clarify. The wine will continue to degas on it's own...

PPBart, IMO I don't think I'd trust them. Two reasons: They are relatively inexpensive to re-purchase; and, you'll have too much investment in your must/wine to risk a bad batch of chemicals. If they don't work, you won't know it until your wine is spoiling. Fred

ferratus, Welcome to the forum! To answer your question, it usually takes 24-48 hours to start to see CO2 bubbles. Sounds like you're off to a good start. It should continue to increase until it's bubbling constantly. Just follow kit directions explicitly and feel free to post amy questions...

I have two locations to age my wine. I can keep it in my house which has a uniform temp of 70F year round. Or, I can keep it in my garage which slowly varies from about 32F in the winter to 65F in the summer. Which should I choose? Fred

Every time you rack you expose your wine to air (oxygen) and potential oxidation, so as Allie says keep your racking to just enough times to remove sediment. Usually 3-4 times is sufficent.

A great Power Point presentation, Tom! While there's a great deal of information, you've really put it in a concise and meaningful format. Thanks for sharing it with us. Fred

I'm currently making a Mosti Mondiale Meglioli Carmenere kit. I'm satisfied so far, but it's only been fermenting about 10 days. Wine Making Warehouse, www.winemakingwarehouse.com, has them on sale for $149.47, normally retail for $229.95. If you're willing to spend this much, MMM are IMO one...

I don't believe you'll find a caramel recipe, but go to the site below for several apple wine recipes that all sound good: http://winemaking.jackkeller.net/recipes.asp Fred

Maybe you were supposed to rack the oak chips over with the wine. What do the instructions say? If so, that could account for some of your low volume. Fred

T.G., Don't go above 23l. on your next kit. If you do, you'll dilute your wine and dilute the wine's sugar so that you may have a problem with it fermenting. I'm thinking on this first one you may have left behind too much wine in an effort to rack it off the lees clean. Don't worry if...

Jase711, Welcome to the forum! During your first racking leave as much pulp behind as possible. It's already contributed all the juice it's going to and if carried forward may contribute to the formation of H2S (rotten egg smell). Even after racking, if you begin to smell H2S add a yeast...

BettyJ, I did a little research and cannot find any chemical substitute for sorbate. There is a sterile filtration method, but this requires you have filtration equipment and the filters necessary to do it. Citric acid will not work and also will impart a bitter taste. Fred